dove tail saw purchase help needed

Hi,I am considering buying a first dove tail saw and am wondering if the difference in price between the veritas and lie-nielson is reflected in the ease of use, accuracy, and quality of cut? I can afford the veritas now but not the L-N . I do however hate buying tools twice so if there’s a huge difference I’d be tempted to wait until I could afford to buy the better saw. Thoughts? I am also happy to hear alternatives. Thanks!

-- You may delay, but time will not. --Ben Franklin

8 replies so far

I can’t say anything about the LN saw first hand, other than it’s a beautiful saw and people really seem to like it. I do, however, have the Veritas dovetail saw and the crosscut carcuss saw—love them both. They aren’t the prettiest saws, but in terms of performance, I can’t complain.

It’s hard to beat the Veritas in terms of price and quality…I have yet to run into someone who owns it and does not like it. I however plan to save my pennies for an LN since I think it looks so much better.

Call me a Fascist, but keep in mind my current saw is a $9 Sears brand that I turbocharged.

The most important thing is finding a saw that fits your hand and to find that out you are going to have to try out a few.

I have the LN saw and it works beautifully. I have tried the LV saw, but I just didn’t care for the way the handle felt in my hand. As was mentioned above, how it feels in your hand is a HUGE influence on how well you like the saw. If it doesn’t feel good in your hand, you’re not going to want to use it. If there are any woodworking shows in your area, I’d suggest going there and trying them. Both LN and LV are at the vast majority of the woodworking shows I go to.

Saw plates are pretty much interchangeable, with good sharpening and set each will cut as well as the other. What you buy with the high dollar saws are cosmetics, maybe sharper out of the box, and sometimes better ergos.

The LV saws are a great buy, the LN are pretty and well made….both will saw. BTW, this is a great time to work wood, there are a number of folks making great tools. We can think LN for helping start the hand tool revival but if I were looking for a high dollar saw there are a couple of other makers I would pick first.

I find my self leaning toward the saws that have a mixed pitch on the blade. I am also looking at buying a Good Dovetail saw and I don’t want to buy it twice either. In my recearch I have looked at Rob Cosman’s and Glen Drake saws too. I had a chance to talk to Glen Drake at a LN show and was impressed with his saw. It’s a mixed pitch saw and does a great job. The saw starts out with no teeth, then a 16 per inch then to a 12 per inch, then it goes back to 16 then smooth.

I know LN has a progressive pitch saw too, but I don’t think Veritas has one yet.

In case you are wondering what the advatage of a progressive pitch is: It allows you to get a fine cut started before it gets aggressive, it also allows you to build momentum into the cut so when you hit the agressive teeth you are already cuting your line.

I have looked at the Rob Cosman, but I must say I think he is overpriced for what he is offering. It’s a nice saw but If I am buying a $250 saw I want a fine wooden handle not a handle made from Corian/plastic. He can’t convince me that it’s better for that money.

I have looked at the Rob Cosman, but I must say I think he is overpriced for what he is offering. It’s a nice saw but If I am buying a $250 saw I want a fine wooden handle not a handle made from Corian/plastic. He can’t convince me that it’s better for that money.

My thoughts exactly, for $250 it should have a rosewood or ebony handle.. :-)

I have the LN think kerf dovetail and crosscut saw, they are great. I looked at the Veritas and I have to admit the silliness of having a good looking tool. The Veritas I am sure is a fine saw, but I just could not get pass the ugliness of it…

-- To surrender a dream leaves life as it is — and not as it could be.

The funny thing to me is that everytime I see an unproffessional picture of a veritas in someone’s shop… I think to myself “that’s kind of cool looking”, but the pic in the catologue just looks wrong to me. Mabye I will have to snag one and see which way I feel in person.

Just a quick expansion of my earlier post: No matter how much you pay for a saw or how little, for the most part saw plates are the about same, some might be a little harder or shinier, some a little thicker but whatever all will need sharpening after a little use.

The best money you can spend starting out is to buy something like a set of LV saws, so you can feel how a good saw saws, and saw files, saw set, and a saw vice, plus a couple of eBay cheapos. Then learn to sharpen on the cheap saws, once you have the cheap saws sawing as well as the LV you will be set for life and will be able to make almost any saw work. BTW, I have some expensive saws in my saw till along with cheaper ones and a few eBay specials as well, the one I reach for depends more on how I have it sharpened than the price I paid for it or how the handle is shaped. That is not to say the eBay special is as nice to use as the Bad Axe but depending on how sharpened it could be better for the job.